I have lived on or close to the Merrimac River for the past 30 years. I have been teaching first grade in West Newbury for many years and am grateful every day to live in such a beautiful place and have work that I love. Growing up, my family spent summers on Little Neck in Ipswich as well as at the lake in New Hampshire. For five years I lived on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida and worked at a private school where marine science was an integral part of the curriculum k-8. I love living near the ocean and all that it offers, especially the shore birds. I am looking forward to infusing new ideas into our "organism" unit of study in first grade this spring and learning more about the world around me!
April 8, 2011
What a great tour of the Cushing House museum. I, too, found the gentleman's accent to be an asset to the interesting, historical tour of Newburyport's past. A wonderful way to begin thinking about our connection to the ocean with a well crafted talk of the Great Migration as far back as 1625 up to the present. With the development of the Marine Society in 1772 we have been able to view the collections of artifacts that tell the story of people and their relationship with the sea over many years. I have not thought about "ocean literacy" and the fundamental concepts that need to be taught to help our students make informed choices regarding this incredible resource. We are preparing a science unit on "Organisms" and it is exciting to think of how I will be able to integrate the place based education model with a possible field trip to Odiorne Point in the late spring. We are fortunate in that our students have the schema, or background knowledge to set the stage for this exploration. The principle that resonates most deeply with me is "the ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems." Children are curious about all living creatures and cannot get enough new information about them. It is hard to end this day with out appreciating the risks and hard work of those that spent their lives at sea as well as the historians that have documented their paths.
April 9, 2011
Moon shell...
I have been very interested in how things adapt to their environment and survive despite harsh conditions. It is something that I would like to teach my first graders as we begin our living organisms unit. The moon snail is a predatory snail that has built in mechanisms to help it survive despite the extreme temperatures and conditions in which it lives. adaptationToday was my first introduction to the glacial origins. To see it demonstrated using the sand and the examples of the stones before me made it seem like something young children could grasp. It is interesting to begin this thought process Thinking about the continental shelf, the Jeffreis ledge, the continental slope... Ocean literacy is obviously an area that deserves more inquiry on my part. We talked about the loss of fish, seals, different fish stock. It is always about balance. As we walked through the dunes and along the deer paths it was stunning to see the evidence of wildlife and the diversity. I had no idea that the island had been inhabited with hotels, guests, docks and cottages. Evidence of this era has been erased and quickly replaced. Plum island protects the city from the ravages of the sea. It would be interesting to see it 100 years from now. It protects a fragile balance with the marshes and the population of wildlife that resides there . Today we saw evidence of scat from coyote, owls, reptiles and small mammals.. Today was very broad in its' scope. From the continental shelf to how would you do a field trip...and what experiential activities would you employ? I loved the meditative piece, the create what you can from where you are...
April 10,2011
Listening to the talk at the Spencer Farm showed the contrast between the merchants of Newburyport and the farmers of Newbury and the lives they led. The names of the families surfaced several times between the Curator's talk, the farm tour and the narrator of the cemetery. They were all connected by their lives near the sea and many of them were successful because of it. The boat house was a real stroll back in time. It appears to be using the same technology from years past with very little change. I like to talk to my students about "cool facts" and they are very enthusiastic about it. The talk about the "King Pine Rebellion" was a very cool fact and led me to research a little bit about it. GBH has a great kid site that talks about this very situation King Pine. This past weekend was a very full historical walk into the heart of Newburyport and the areas that surround it. The present day look at how to access this domain to our students has been wonderful.
Cathy 4/6/11
I have lived on or close to the Merrimac River for the past 30 years. I have been teaching first grade in West Newbury for many years and am grateful every day to live in such a beautiful place and have work that I love. Growing up, my family spent summers on Little Neck in Ipswich as well as at the lake in New Hampshire. For five years I lived on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida and worked at a private school where marine science was an integral part of the curriculum k-8. I love living near the ocean and all that it offers, especially the shore birds. I am looking forward to infusing new ideas into our "organism" unit of study in first grade this spring and learning more about the world around me!
April 8, 2011
What a great tour of the Cushing House museum. I, too, found the gentleman's accent to be an asset to the interesting, historical tour of Newburyport's past. A wonderful way to begin thinking about our connection to the ocean with a well crafted talk of the Great Migration as far back as 1625 up to the present. With the development of the Marine Society in 1772 we have been able to view the collections of artifacts that tell the story of people and their relationship with the sea over many years. I have not thought about "ocean literacy" and the fundamental concepts that need to be taught to help our students make informed choices regarding this incredible resource. We are preparing a science unit on "Organisms" and it is exciting to think of how I will be able to integrate the place based education model with a possible field trip to Odiorne Point in the late spring. We are fortunate in that our students have the schema, or background knowledge to set the stage for this exploration. The principle that resonates most deeply with me is "the ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems." Children are curious about all living creatures and cannot get enough new information about them. It is hard to end this day with out appreciating the risks and hard work of those that spent their lives at sea as well as the historians that have documented their paths.
April 9, 2011
Moon shell...
I have been very interested in how things adapt to their environment and survive despite harsh conditions. It is something that I would like to teach my first graders as we begin our living organisms unit. The moon snail is a predatory snail that has built in mechanisms to help it survive despite the extreme temperatures and conditions in which it lives. adaptationToday was my first introduction to the glacial origins. To see it demonstrated using the sand and the examples of the stones before me made it seem like something young children could grasp. It is interesting to begin this thought process Thinking about the continental shelf, the Jeffreis ledge, the continental slope... Ocean literacy is obviously an area that deserves more inquiry on my part. We talked about the loss of fish, seals, different fish stock. It is always about balance. As we walked through the dunes and along the deer paths it was stunning to see the evidence of wildlife and the diversity. I had no idea that the island had been inhabited with hotels, guests, docks and cottages. Evidence of this era has been erased and quickly replaced. Plum island protects the city from the ravages of the sea. It would be interesting to see it 100 years from now. It protects a fragile balance with the marshes and the population of wildlife that resides there . Today we saw evidence of scat from coyote, owls, reptiles and small mammals.. Today was very broad in its' scope. From the continental shelf to how would you do a field trip...and what experiential activities would you employ? I loved the meditative piece, the create what you can from where you are...
April 10,2011
Listening to the talk at the Spencer Farm showed the contrast between the merchants of Newburyport and the farmers of Newbury and the lives they led. The names of the families surfaced several times between the Curator's talk, the farm tour and the narrator of the cemetery. They were all connected by their lives near the sea and many of them were successful because of it. The boat house was a real stroll back in time. It appears to be using the same technology from years past with very little change. I like to talk to my students about "cool facts" and they are very enthusiastic about it. The talk about the "King Pine Rebellion" was a very cool fact and led me to research a little bit about it. GBH has a great kid site that talks about this very situation King Pine. This past weekend was a very full historical walk into the heart of Newburyport and the areas that surround it. The present day look at how to access this domain to our students has been wonderful.